She walked into the convenience store after work to get something for dinner. It was late again as usual and there were no other customers around at this time. Sometimes there would be someone else but it was still some time before the next shift when more people would come in shopping before heading home.
She preferred this time when the world felt quieter. She could hear the low hum of the refrigerators in the back, the soft music from the media unit at the counter and the shuffling of cans and cartons by the attendent. She chose a simple pasta dinner from the selection of single portion meals and headed over to the aisle where she heard the attendent working.
She felt relieved to see him but her heartbeat hadn’t gone down from the moment she saw the store on the way from work. She watched him from the end of the aisle re-arranging items and taking inventory.
The first thing she had noticed decacycles ago when she saw him for the first time here were his kind eyes. She had never seen green eyes before and she caught herself staring at him to her own embarrassement. He waved it off with a smile but she still felt awkward for days.
Eventually she struck up a conversation and soon she would talk with him for a while every time she came here. He’d ask how work had been and she’d talk a little about it, then she’d ask him and then they would make small talk about the news. And then lately she noticed she looked forward to seeing him after work.
He stroked a strand of his black hair behind his ear and looked sideways at her. She felt her heartbeat quicken as he smiled at her.
‘Hello. How was work today?’ he asked as he stood up and walked towards her.
She looked a little up at him as he took the dinner from her hands. ‘It was good. Managed to finish several things I wanted to do for a long time. And you?’
‘Same old boredom today.’ he said and looked at the dinner. ‘Only this today?’
‘Ah, yes.’
‘Then I’d like to propose something.’ he said looking away a little.
‘Yes?’ she said feeling curious and nervous at once.
‘Come with me?’ he asked and walked over to the counter.
She followed him and he pulled out a bag from under the counter. She knew what it was from the smell coming out of it.
He fiddled a little nervously at the bag. ‘It’s not healthy to always eat those ready meals, and since you mentioned it has been a long time since you had something home cooked I thought I’d surprise you with something I made.’
She looked at the bag, then at him. ‘You made this for me?’
‘I had to cook for myself anyway so it was easy to make extra.’
‘This..’
‘Unles you don’t want to have rice today?’
She took the bag from the counter and sniffed it. ‘Thank you. I’m sure it will taste great.’
‘Then please enjoy it.’
She looked back at him before leaving the store and waved at him as he waved at her.
On the way home she could barely keep her grin in check while she wondered if she found herself in a romance novel all of a sudden.